 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Leonid Elenin[1] 0.45-m reflector (H15)[2][3] |
| Discovery date | 7 July 2011[2] |
| Designations | |
| P/2011 NO1 (Elenin), 2023 WM26 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 15 June 2020[4] (JD 2459015.5) |
| Aphelion | 9.98 AU (Q) |
| Perihelion | 1.24 AU (q) |
| Semi-major axis | 5.61 AU (a) |
| Eccentricity | 0.779 |
| Orbital period | 13.28 yr |
| Inclination | 15.40° |
| 295.81° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 263.64° |
| Last perihelion | 20 January 2011[4] |
| Next perihelion | 5 May 2024[5] |
| TJupiter | 2.183 |
| Earth MOID | 0.38 AU |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 15.2[4] |
479P/Elenin, with provisional designation P/2011 NO1 (Elenin), is a periodic comet with an orbital period estimated at 13.3 years.[4]
The comet was discovered on 7 July 2011[2] when the comet was 2.38 AU from the Sun and 1.4 AU from the Earth and had an apparent magnitude of 19.5. It had come to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) around 20 January 2011 at 1.2 AU from the Sun.[4] P/2011 NO1 was the second comet discovered by Leonid Elenin. The first comet discovered by Elenin was comet C/2010 X1. Both comets were discovered with the aid of the automatic detection program CoLiTec.[6] It came to opposition 178.6° from the Sun on 22 July 2011 in the constellation Sagittarius.
On 29 January 2013 the Minor Planet Center awarded Leonid Elenin a 2012 Edgar Wilson Award for the discovery of comets by amateurs.[7]
Maik Meyer proposed that asteroid 2023 WM26, which was discovered by PanSTARRS on 18 November 2023, is the return of P/2011 NO1 (Elenin).[8][9] The link was later confirmed by Shuichi Nakano and Daniel Green.[5] The 2024 apparition was the most favorable in decades, with the comet brightening to an apparent magnitude of 10 to 11, with the comet approaching 0.62 AU to Earth on 4 May 2024, one day before perihelion. The comet appeared gasy and diffuse.[10]
The radius of the nucleus is estimated to be less than one kilometre.[11]
- ^ Sostero, Giovanni; Howes, Nick; Guido, Ernesto (19 July 2011). "New Comet: P/2011 NO1". Associazione Fruilana di Astronomia e Meteorologia. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ^ a b c "MPEC 2011-O09 : 2011 NO1". IAU Minor Planet Center. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ^ "MPEC 2011-O10 : COMET P/2011 NO1". IAU Minor Planet Center. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ^ a b c d e "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2011 NO1)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ a b Green, Daneil (28 January 2024). "COMET P/2023 WM_26 = P/2011 NO_1 (ELENIN)". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 5340: 1.
- ^ "CoLiTec". Automatic Detection of Asteroids and Comets CoLiTec (CLT). Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
- ^ "2012 Comet Awards Announced". 29 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
- ^ Meyer, Maik. "2023 WM26 = P/2011 NO1 (Elenin)". groups.io. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
- ^ "MPEC 2023-Y72 : 2023 WM26". Minor Planet Center. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
- ^ "ALPO COMET NEWS FOR MAY 2024" (PDF). The Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ Fernández, Julio A.; Sosa, Andrea (December 2015). "Jupiter family comets in near-Earth orbits: Are some of them interlopers from the asteroid belt?". Planetary and Space Science. 118: 14–24. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2015.07.010.